Oxford 2010: The future of policing

Robert Reiner (Professor of Criminology, author of The Politics of the Police)

Chaired by Jean Seaton (director of the Orwell Prize)

The third of the Orwell Prize’s events at the Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival 2010.

‘Having gone truncheons to tasers in a generation, I also have to wonder what purpose the current Police Service has been built for… Once people get over the quasi military kit, we are mostly approachable and pleasant people, it’s just that we dress like Imperial Stormtroopers.’ Policing has undergone a huge transformation over the last 15 years, as suggested by Orwell Prize-winning police blogger ‘Jack Night’, but what do the next few years hold for the Service?